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Viola Whittaker
Viola Adelaide Whittaker is a character on the original incarnation of Harpers Falls. She was played by actress/singer Telma Hopkins, best known for singing work with the group, Tony Orlando and Dawn and then later known for her comedic roles of Isabelle Hammond on Bosom Buddies, Addy Wilson on Gimme a Break; Aunt Rachel Crawford on Family Matters; Phyllis Thorne on Half and Half and Marilyn Persons on Are We There Yet? She returned to the show's current incarnation in 2015 in a recurring capacity, and her role was made into a comic relief role, due to Hopkins' expertise at comedy. It was Telma's suggestion that her character's middle name be called Adelaide (in homage to her role of Adelaide "Addy" Wilson on Gimme a Break). Cambridge's prime professor of humor Having been through a lot of trials and tribulations, Viola Whittaker has every reason to really look back and laugh. After a lifetime of growing up with very little, Viola, along with her sisters, Stacey Whittaker Marshall and Evelyn, always did the best they could. After Evelyn got married, her husband, Edward, helped the entire family, especially with paying her way through college, where she became interested in education. Stacey had gotten married to a man named Walter Marshall, and he had helped pay for her wedding. Edward was a great friend to the family until he had passed away after being murdered in front of his law firm. Evelyn and Edward were an interracial couple. Viola was there to help Evelyn through the worst part of the storm, and she stayed with her since then, after she got a job teaching at Brandeis University in Boston (the reason the Whittaker family moved to Harpers Falls in the first place). The Whittakers welcome to the Harpers Falls community was marred somewhat by the burning of a cross on the front lawn of their house. Viola again saw a sense of humor as the way out, although Stacey and Evelyn thought she was crazy. Viola now lives with her sisters and her nephews in Chicago, where she works as a professor at Loyola University in Chicago. She also works at Northwestern University as a professor and sometimes does stand up comedy. It has been revealed that Viola has regained her job at Brandeis, and is slated to return as a dramatics professor, and also slated to do some stand-up in and around Boston. She found and purchased a home in Cambridge, with the aid of her sister, Evelyn, and moved in at the beginning of the new Spring semester. She caught up with her friends and she has gelled back into the life of the Harpers and their friends. Viola's breezy and somewhat hilarious sense of humor; her infectious laugh, and her often sunny outlook on life is a much-needed tonic for all the trials and torments that the Harpers have had to contend with over the last several months. Category:Characters Category:Harper family allies Category:Comic relief characters Category:Whittaker family